Today, I dropped to a lensmaster's lens that's got locked. I wanted to make a post in their forum asking to remove the horrible, harmful, insulting, hurting "locked" message and replace it with something that's better suited to their oldest and most productive lensmasters.
However, I wasn't able to log into the official forums - whether because of one of the thousands of Squidoo bugs that happen over and over again and are quite tiring or for an eternal ban - who knows?
Therefore I'm going to post it HERE. For the public to read.
So, the message I saw on that locked lens was this one :
This lens has been taken down
Squidoo is a place for writing and sharing original
opinion content. We value first-hand reviews. Recommendations. Storytelling. Experience
sharing. Advice. Our best authors craft useful pages that you'll be glad
you found.
Sometimes, however, a lens is taken down from public view. This
can happen when our filters have determined that there is spam, duplicate
content or a Terms of Service violation.
Good! What was my first impression ?
Well, I'd say that I thought "oh my, another spammer, content stealer, cheater or whatever dishonest so-called lensmaster's locked lens". After all, it makes us feel good to see that dishonest people get caught by the filters and/or HQ and their dishonest work taken down, doesn't it ?
Then, I gave it a second thought.
To say the truth, I know the lensmaster whose lens was locked. And this made me feel really, really bad for them! I know this lensmaster personally, I know that this lensmaster is a honest person, I know this lensmaster is one of their most prolific writers and one of the best SEO experts and sales makers.
I know that this lensmaster brought lots of money to Squidoo, I know the lensmaster in question HELPED dozens of newbies succeeding on Squidoo, I know this lensmaster ALWAYS played by the rules, complied to their TOS, different policies, terms of service.
I know this lensmaster deserved another kind locking message than this one.
If I didn't know the lensmaster and was an external visitor, I'd rather
believe this message and would avoid anything written by THIS LENSMASTER on ALL websites on which their name would appear !
I didn't mean "if I didn't know lensmaster X or Y", I meant "THIS LENSMASTER"... personally. Because in the thousands of different lensmasters, there are certainly some who really are spammers, cheaters, content stealers and I don't know nor met all of them.
So even if as a lensmaster I head to such a page showing such a message and because I did NOT meet all lensmasters and do NOT know all of them, I would be inclined avoiding them in the future.
I find this message very insulting and hurting. For Squidoo's lensmasters as a whole. Even though none of my lenses was locked yet - but I'm pretty sure my time will come - especially since I post my deep thoughts in this blog.
What did these lensmasters do to be treaten that way? What did they do to deserve such a lack of respect? What did they do, apart from earning money for the site, charities and for themselves to get such a bad treatment without being able to even talk about it, ask motive or help since censorship has become a standard in the forums - that they call "a friendly place to chat with other lensmasters".
Indeed, unless roses and kisses are sent your way, what can lensmasters expect from those forums? Speaking the truth isn't allowed - dare posting an objective and realistic comment, it'll end up deleted in no time.
What are you expecting from lensmasters? With your best assets soon to be gone, do you really think Squidoo will survive? I'm not sure... I wouldn't bet on that. Let's see where you'll be by next year.
But I may be wrong when I think that Squidoo's future matters to you.
Posted by Squidoo Angel Prosperity66
You are right. There is a worrying new trend where comments that express the slightest criticism or concern, no matter how respectful, are deleted from the HQ forum and blog. It's interesting to see that it is long-term members of the site, those who have invested a lot in it and whose opinion carries some weight, who are deleted and banned. Angry newbies slip through the net, maybe because they are not considered a threat? It's ironic that it's some kind of compliment to be banned these days!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the 'taken down' message. Some deserve it. Many don't. It's a hurtful message if you are one of the ones who fell foul of an unpredictable filter or couldn't keep up with the ever-changing rules. Visitors can't be blamed for thinking the worst.
I hope the powers that be would think twice about attacking your account because of your outspoken opinions. You have done a great deal quietly and behind the scenes to help others. Besides, it's the policy of squashing all dissent that creates a need for blogs like this one to tell the other side of the story. Most of us know not to trust a site that publishes only the applause and cheers.
Personally, I just can't keep up with their ever changing rules, I don't have time for that, must work on my own sites - I own several ones and can't cast them aside because of Squidoo.
ReplyDeleteI also often travel abroad so can't always touch base with HQ or their ever changing rules.
Squidoo is at the risk of becoming a thing of the past if things keep being handled that way. It's sad because it used to be the Bentley of writing platforms and it's becoming an average car, might end up soon some kind of Dacia, you know, the "low cost brand" of a well known brand.